


A Crieff Family Reunion

by clockworkgirl221



Series: The Communicator [5]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Crieff Family Reunion, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, M/M, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-29
Updated: 2012-05-03
Packaged: 2017-11-04 13:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/394258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockworkgirl221/pseuds/clockworkgirl221
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angelina Crieff knew of her son’s proclivity to men. And she has been ready for the day that Martin fails to find a man of his own. </p>
<p>Or, a Crieff family reunion, in two parts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> By the way, I spell "Kaitlin" with a "K" as oppose to a "C" because I think Angelina named her daughter and wanted her daughter's name to have a bit of flair. After all, Mummy Crieff has a interesting name, while her husband has a rather bland name ("Peter," in this series, at least), and chose bland names for his sons ("Martin" and "Simon," really?).
> 
> Plus I have creative license here. Let me run with it.
> 
> That being said, please enjoy this piece non-the-less.

PART ONE

_My dearest son,_

_Mummy here!_

_It’s just been a while since all the Crieffs were under one roof. Since your father died, I believe. So I’m extending an invitation to you and your darling Calliope to come for the weekend up here in Bristol, at the old house. Bring a guest if you want, but do know that your ‘just in case’ match by yours truly will be there!_

_You remember Avery, the little elf boy that was your father’s friend’s son? Well, the little hottie is waiting patiently for your arrival this weekend, and I do hope you will come._

_Miss you,_

_Mummy._

Martin and Calliope looked at each other as they read over the letter a second time.

“We have to go,” Calliope mused. “It’s a Crieff family reunion. You haven’t seen her since you got sick… And you haven’t been in that house since your father died.”

“But… Avery?” Martin asked. “I have… well… you know. Douglas.”

“Not really,” Calliope mused, even though she had wanted Martin and Douglas to get together for months now. Over ten of the twelve months she had known Martin, to be precise.

“Still, its nice to know I have Avery if I can’t get Douglas,” Martin replied, putting the letter down on the counter.

“If you _won’t_ get Douglas,” Calli corrected. “You _can_ get anyone you want but I’m not sure of you ever _will_.”

Martin was silent for a moment, worrying his bottom lip, “Still… the van’s broken and I don’t know where Simon or Kaitlin are…”

Calliope then got a rather frightening smirk on her face…

*****

So that was how Douglas Richardson came with them on their short trip to Bristol. Seems skilled professionals _did_ go to Bristol, but only because his revered Captain’s prominent Witch family lived there, or had lived their since said Captain was 13 years old.

Martin had forgotten to call in advance however, which was why he was shaking as his mother (and the young elf Avery) were spluttering at the door when Douglas followed the redhead up the steps.

Avery, as fate would have it, was an elf-child. Peter’s friends had all been either Faes or at least lived with the Faes and saw them as family. Peter and a pal of his had had children at about the same time, maybe three months apart of each other, and so when Angelina had seen her youngest son’s obvious proclivity for the male sex (although he still liked women just… not as much), she had chosen Avery Ventus as Martin’s sort of, ‘just-in-case-he-doesn’t-find-someone-for-himself’-type person. Angel had done it for Martin’s sister Kaitlin, who had a proclivity for women, and both girls had hit it off and were now living together, Martin heard. Simon was outgoing enough to find his own person, so Angelina didn’t even think to find him a match.

Avery was a golden-haired lad who was as lanky and as skinny as Martin was, though his skin was tanned and blemish-less, and his eyes were as golden as his hair. His ears tapered, and his nails were naturally oval and had stopped growing after about three millimeters. Douglas looked like a lesser Sky-God in comparison.

“Martin!” Avery said, his voice silky like moonlight over lake water.

Martin smiled warmly at him, but could feel the tension.

“Martin, you never told me you were bringing a… guest,” Angelina said, her dark hair framing her face and making her look even more beautiful than her son remembered her.

“Dad’s van broke down,” Martin replied, giving his mother a tight hug. A boy always misses his mummy the most.

Douglas shook hands with first Avery, and then Angelina (and he noticed the white cat at her feet. Her familiar, no doubt). “I gave him a ride, and Calliope roped him into asking me inside. I can leave if I’m interrupting a reunion among lovers, as well as family…”

“No!” Martin said suddenly, and blushed before adding, “It’s… fine. Avery is just an… old friend.”

Angelina looked at Calliope, who had bounded up Martin’s lithe body to his shoulder and was draping herself across his neck like a scarf. “He’s been wanting to get into Douglas’s pants for months, practically,” said the cat traitorously.

Martin squeaked at that, turning to his mother and gaping his mouth rather like a fish might. Calliope looked at him with her dark blue eyes and made a little shrugging motion with her shoulder, “It’s true…”

Martin had no words, and instead pushed pass Avery—who hadn’t heard anything the cat had said—and his mother—who had a strange glint in her eye—to the inner sanctum of the Crieff household.

And he was promptly smooshed by his older sister, who was only a year older than him rather than Simon’s five years. Kaitlin was as skinny as Martin, but better fed, and smelling of a garden. Her Path was of Plants, after all. She had darker red hair than her little brother, and had a small mouse (named Athena, Martin remembered) peeking out of her cardigan pocket, which intrigued Calliope for about a second before the cat lost interest and continued warming the back of Martin’s neck. “I missed you so much, Martin!” she said into his hair.

“Hi, Kaitlin. Is Annie here?”

“Right here, little man. Heard you were finally chosen by the Path of Communication,” said a rather raspy-sounding voice. Annie Cooper was built like an Amazon, with brown hair and green eyes, and freckles enough to put both Kaitlin and Martin to shame. Her Path was Elixers, so she was a bit like chemist. Her familiar was a raven with the name Osiris, who sat on her shoulder and was a still as a statue.

“Yeah. Been at it a year now. It’s still strange to finally be apart of the Family Legacy…”

“I bet,” Annie replied, and noticed that Martin had come with another male that wasn’t Avery. She winked at him before sticking her hand, “Annie Cooper, Kaitlin’s girlfriend-for-life.”

“Lovely to meet you. I’m guessing the long-haired redhead is Kaitlin?” Douglas asked, putting on the moves even though he had guessed this little brunette was a hardcore lesbian.

“You would be correct sir…” Annie replied.

“Simon! Robin! Get in here!” Angelina called, her voice getting loud and making anyone who wasn’t used to the tiny creature’s big voice cringe (so, just Douglas).

A redheaded boy and a dark-haired, almost African, beauty came down the steps giggling slightly as they did. Martin rolled his eyes, but gave the couple a smile as his older brother and his brother’s wife engulfed him in a group hug.

“Martin!” said Simon, giving Martin’s hair a bit of an affectionate ruffle, “A Communicator! Lucky little bugger.”

Douglas saw a bit of Martin’s brother’s famed Electricity start in Martin’s hair and hoped it was only the static kind.

“Ow!” Martin cried, “I didn’t like when you conducted electricity on my head when I was twelve and I _still_ don’t like it, thank you very much!”

No wonder Martin had an inferiority complex and wanted to be called ‘Sir’ or ‘Captain…’

Simon’s familiar was a frightening looking hawk, who had floated down the steps and settled on his human’s shoulder. Robin was holding a little goldfinch in her hand. Her Path was Weather, and Martin had a feeling that she had cheated a little and had pushed the clouds apart to make the sun shine a little brighter this lovely Saturday afternoon.

“So, everyone here is a witch, hm? Even the spouses and partners?” Douglas asked.

“Oh, you’ll fit right in,” Angelina said, still getting over the fact that her youngest son actually found someone without her help. Well… Angel wasn’t a Clairvoyant like her mother… just a Healer. She shrugged and looked over at Avery… perhaps he should go away or something…

*****

That didn’t really happen, much to her chagrin. She went to tell Avery he wasn’t needed but the fact that she didn’t know this Douglas Richardson so well stopped her. Maybe Douglas didn’t want her youngest son back (which would be stupid, of course) and Avery was actually needed in this case?

“You should have seen him the last time Martin was sick. He wouldn’t leave until he was sure his Captain was fine and that you’d be down with medicines blessed by you, made from plants cultivated by Kaitlin and those Elixers made by Annie,” Calliope said as she watched Avery flirt with her human. Martin wasn’t giving in, and Douglas was watching the youngest Crieff like Simon’s hawk familiar might.

Angelina wasn’t quite convinced as she watched her son talk easily with his brother and sister and their partners.

Douglas was learning a lot from them about young Martin Crieff. “He was convinced he was adopted when he went off to Oxford,” Simon said, “The Path of Electricity had come to Zeus here,” the hawk, “when I was about twelve, and Athena came to Kaitlin with her Path of Plants when she was fourteen. Martin was convinced his familiar would come in between those years for him and when she never came he… went off to play Normie.”

“Normie?” Douglas asked.

“That’s what we called normal people. Like in _Harry Potter_ , how there are Muggles and Witches and Wizards?” Robin asked. She grinned when both boys looked at her, “I’ve been a Crieff for ten years now. I know their ways.”

“That you do, my love,” Simon said, giving her a soft smile. Douglas decided to leave their company at that point.

Martin finally found his mother, as a pair of girls named Kaitlin and Annie, who were saving Martin from the elf’s company by being loud and obnoxious, was accosting Avery.

“As much as I appreciate him being here ‘just in case,’ Mummy, I have to tell you that… there’s been some progress with Douglas and…” Martin was blushing and Calliope was giving the shorter woman (so _that’s_ where the Crieffs got their height… or how Martin and Kaitlin got their height, at least. Simon was massive) a bit of an ‘I-told-you-so’ smirk from her spot in Martin’s arms.

Angelina nodded. Martin had told her so himself. As soon as there was a lull from the girls she asked that Avery leave. “Looks like your not needed after all, love. So sorry if I got your hopes up.”

Avery shook his head. Elves were rather amiable and low-maintenance that way. “A union with a Crieff would have been delightful, I must admit,” he began, “But I can feel Douglas’s eyes on me every time I approach your youngest, and Martin just doesn’t seem enamored with the idea of me being his life partner.”

Douglas seemed to deflate happily when Avery left to go back to his forest cabin in the outskirts of town, and Martin relaxed a bit more.

Dinner was served in the large dining room.

*****

Dinner was fairly boisterous, but Douglas enjoyed getting to know Kaitlin and Annie a bit better. After the food Simon was the one to calm everyone down. Seemed he had some good news, which Kaitlin catcalled at before Annie said, “Us too!”

The two older Crieff siblings looked to Martin, who had no news at all at this point.

“Seems the good things won’t come in threes this time, Mum,” Simon replied before he slipped an arm around his wife’s waist. “We’re having a child!”

Angelina put her hand over her mouth and stood up to hug her son and daughter-in-law, “Took you long enough to produce some grandbabies for your old mum,” she stage-hissed. The table roared with laughter before all eyes went to Annie and Kaitlin.

Kaitlin smiled at her girlfriend-for-life and said, “Annie and I are getting a civil partnership in London in a few months. We’d like for most of you to be there, if you can,” she turned to her family, and Mummy Crieff was up once more and hugging her daughter and her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law.

Calliope, who sat on the table with the other familiars, looked back at her human and gave a little smirk, “Too bad the good news didn’t come in threes. You could have announced your undying love to Douglas right here and now and had something to add to the atmosphere.”

Martin flicked her softly behind the ear, “It’s not undying and its not love. Not yet, and possibly not ever…” Everyone was too boisterous to hear him say that, but Angelina’s familiar, Lear, was listening closely to the youngest Crieff and his familiar.

“Oh, hang that, Martin Crieff,” Calliope said, her smirk turning into a bit of a glare. “According to human psychology, your proximity to him will only make your fondness for the old chap to grow stronger. Give it time.”

Martin couldn’t answer the cat as the champagne and glasses were being passed around (and apple juice for those who didn’t or couldn’t drink alcohol) and toasts were being made. One for Simon and Robin’s and their future child, one for Kaitlin and Annie and their future nuptials, and one for Martin and his finally coming into the Crieff Family Legacy.

*****

Once the celebrations were over, and the household was calming down, Douglas remembered that he hadn’t planned on staying the night. Everyone else was going up the stairs to their old rooms to get some sleep before going back to their lives in the morning, and even Martin was making his way up the stairs with his duffle bag.

“Do stay the night, Douglas,” said Mrs. Crieff with a smile.

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly,” Douglas replied politely, inching for the door.

“I think you could,” Angel replied, “Martin could sleep on the floor if it makes you uncomfortable to sleep in the same bed with him.”

“It’s not that—“ Douglas started, but Angel pushed him toward the foot of the stairs.

“You didn’t drink, I know. But Martin will need a ride tomorrow, and I’m sure he’d prefer to have you take him home…”

Douglas was reminded that he drove Martin here, and he might as well take him back, so he nodded and went up the stairs.

The hallway had four bedrooms lined up side-by-side, two on each side. Angelina’s was at the end on the left, with the door still open. The other three were closed. Kaitlin’s was the room nearest the top of the stairs on the right, with her name in green fake ivy. Simon’s room was next door, with his name on the door in a tubing that could conduct electricity (Angel had explained the electricity only went through the tubes when Simon was in the room the next morning when Douglas asked). Cute.

Douglas looked over at the other side next to Angelina’s room (her name wasn’t on the door) and saw that Martin’s door had his name on it, but it was the name of an aeroplane. Right, Martin’s siblings had found out about their Paths much faster than poor Martin had. Aeroplanes were all that Martin had left when he was teenager and still living with his mum.

The self-proclaimed Sky-God knocked on Martin’s door and it clicked open softly. Martin looked small and scared when he was alone, peeking through the door. “Oh, Douglas. Come to say goodbye, then?”

Douglas shook his head, “Your mother talked me into staying the night.”

Martin blinked, but opened the door and let him in, “Guess I’ll take the floor, then,” he said as Douglas looked around.

The walls in Kaitlin and Simon’s room might have been decorated to fit the Path that had chosen them (it only made sense), but Martin’s room was not. Instead it was as bad as his attic room in Fitton. It was bigger, certainly, than that attic room, but the walls were devoid of posters, and the bed was practically the only thing in the room besides a small desk with even fewer books lining the back of it. The desk lamp was on, but it had gathered dust for a while. Angelina must have kept her children’s rooms in pristine condition even when her children had lives elsewhere.

“I wouldn’t have any pajamas to give you…” Martin said, then remembered something as he crossed to the small closet, “No, wait. Simon gave me some of his sweatpants when he heard I didn’t have anything for gym. They were too big, so I hid them—ah! Here they are.” Martin produced a large pair of drawstring grey lounge-pants. They looked like they would be much too big for Martin, but big enough for his brother, and certainly big enough for Douglas.

Once they were both dressed for bed (they did so not facing one another), Martin made to drag one of the extra comforters to the floor while grabbing his familiar when Douglas put his hand on the blanket to stop him. “No. Just get into bed, Martin. We’ve slept in one bed together before back in LA, remember? We had no hope to afford two rooms unless they were singles?”

Martin blushed as he remembered. That was way before Martin had met Calliope, and so, long before he realized he had… feelings… for his first officer.

“Oh… all right then,” Martin managed to get out.

“I can sleep between you guys if you like,” Calli mewed from under the covers.

Douglas blinked and pulled the blankets back. Calliope gave the older gentleman a little smile before she looked up at her human for an answer.

“Oh, whatever you like, Calli,” Martin replied, his voice breaking a little.

Douglas continued to wait for instructions.

“Oh,” Martin said exasperatedly, and climbed into the bed on his side, “Calliope will sleep between us to make things a bit more comfortable. This bed is a twin, as opposed to that king we slept on back in LA.”

Douglas looked over the bed before he watched Martin get comfortable on his side of it. It was indeed a bit smaller, but Martin was skinny enough not to take up too much room on it, and Douglas was a pro at staying on his side of the bed. So he climbed in, got comfortable, and went still, listening only to Martin’s breathing and the slight purr that emanated at Douglas’s back. He could feel Calliope’s small body rise and fall right near the mid-section of his spine. She was rather enjoying this dilemma, the cheeky little bugger.


	2. Chapter 2

PART TWO

Douglas wasn’t getting to sleep. He often slept on his back, but the position left him open to the room, and thus allowed him to study the room and think too much about Martin and what his childhood would have been like.

The walls of the room were truly bare, and the paint had chipped off in some places. If Angelina had left everything the way it was when Martin left for university, then Martin hadn’t had the room repainted once in all the time—from when he was 13 to when he was 18—he had lived there.

Douglas couldn’t see the desk, but he had seen some of the titles of the books: _So You Want To Be A Pilot?_ , _Natural Magick: A Guide For Pathless Witches_ , titles that broke Douglas’s heart for poor, young, Pathless Martin. It must have been terrible thinking you were useless in a Family Legacy such as the Crieffs. Even Martin’s father was special in some way, but Martin—here Douglas’s head turned to the back of Martin’s head—Martin had thought he was a ‘Normie’ by the Crieff children standards.

From looking in to Angelina’s room, Douglas had noticed Angelina’s worktable was decorated in honors from various clients for her Healing abilities. The room was decorated in various herbs and bottles of healing things. Douglas had a feeling Simon and Kaitlin had taken the idea and decorated according to their own Path. Martin’s room… had nothing to say what he would be besides the aeroplane on the door.

Douglas was soon reminded of Calliope and her side of the story of how the Path of Communication came to her. All the Paths wanted to be the youngest Crieff’s Path, and so it had taken longer for a decision to be made and a Path to be given to Douglas’s captain. What a history the Crieffs must have had for every Path wanting to be a part of the Legacy. Did Martin know that he was actually the special sibling, instead of the forgotten one? Douglas was sure the Witch had it in the back of his mind, but the older man had a deep desire for Martin to act like he was the special one in this family. The way he acted with Simon and Kaitlin was almost… normal: a normal younger brother with his extraordinary older siblings.

There was movement next to Douglas, and Calliope appeared, padding carefully onto Douglas’s biceps. Her eyes looked straight into his, and he noticed that she was now kneading his chest (sans her claws) like she had done to Martin once when he was sick. It was a calming mechanism for Calliope to do this, to soothe another creature into sleep.

Douglas couldn’t help but smile as Calliope continued kneading. She was still purring, but it seemed more determined that whimsical or smug. Douglas closed his eyes, listening to Calliope’s gentle purring, and letting the cat’s kneading lull him into sleep.

As he was on the border to Dream Land, he felt the cat stop, but the weight on his chest never left. Calliope, on the other hand, curled up right there on the older human’s chest and drifted off herself.

*****

Martin’s biological clock tended to wake him up earlier than most people. Douglas was apparently used to this, having slept in the same room as him several times and getting used to his Captain’s rustling at 6:15 in the morning. Weekends were no different, and this morning especially. Martin sat up, rubbed his eyes, and took a moment to remember where he was. Looking around, he sighed, keeping the memories of his old home at bay as he looked over to see where his familiar was.

When he noticed that Calli was sleeping comfortably on Douglas’s chest, he sucked in air. There were major implications to a familiar being comfortable enough to sleep on a human’s person, especially if that human wasn’t the human connected to said familiar.

“Calli!” Martin hissed.

Calli woke up dangerously slowly, and Martin would have had a panic attack except everyone else in the house was probably asleep and Martin wanted to be considerate of them. Especially Douglas, but that was neither here nor there.

After three minutes of Calli waking up, Martin threw back the covers, grabbed his familiar and went to the bathroom at the very end of the hall.

“Jeez, Martin. What’s up?” Calli asked.

“What’s up?” Martin said, his voice probably only being heard by dogs it was so high, “You were… _touching_ Douglas! You know the implications of that!”

Calli rolled her neck a little and stretched her body out on the maroon rug before she sat down, putting her tail over her feet, “Yes? He was having trouble sleeping, so I helped him get to sleep. And he’s much warmer than you are, so what was the point of moving?”

Martin squeaked, his mouth gaping as he stared his familiar down. She stared right back, her body calm and her eyes cool. Finally, Martin left the bathroom, and Calliope only sighed and followed her deranged human.

Martin dressed and went down to the kitchen, thinking he had some time to himself to think about the newer developments of his (and his familiar’s) relationship with his first officer. Calliope continued to follow her human, understanding he was angry at her (for the right reasons, probably not).

But Martin wasn’t the only human up. He should have seen his mother’s open bedroom door when he marched his familiar into the bathroom…

“Hello, Martin,” Angelina said, stroking her cat like a Bond villain, evil smirk and all.

“Mummy!” Martin said as Calliope jumped on to the kitchen counter. “What are you doing up?”

“Are you forgetting whose mother I am?” Angelina asked, “I was woken at this time every morning by you. I remember your feet pattering down the steps. You were my alarm clock for the entire time we were in this house together, Martin dear.”

Martin looked sheepishly down at his shoes, “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, sweetie,” Angelina replied, standing up. Lear (her familiar) jumped onto her shoulders to warm the back of her neck. “Sleep well?”

Martin looked up at her and watched as she gave him an extended hug, “Um. Yes, yes I suppose I did.”

“You suppose?” Angelina asked, pulling back and moving to the stovetop, where Martin noticed the kettle was just coming to a boil.

“Well… It’s a tiny bed, and there were three of us in it…” Martin replied.

Angelina pursed her lips before bringing them into a smile, “He’s not a cuddler then, your Douglas?”

“What?” Martin asked, his cheeks flushing, “We’re not… I mean, I wish we _were_ , but we just… aren’t.”

“Just like me, then.”

“Hm?” Martin asked.

“I used to be like you around people I fancied. I never expected them to want me like that, and so I never asked them to be mine. Nearly lost your father that way,” Angelina explained, pouring them both a cup of tea. “Your dad was my best friend, too. Your grandmum set us up, of course, but after the initial disgust we became best friends. We weren’t expected to get married or even to fall in love, but your grandmum was a Clairvoyant, so she saw a future for us, whether we were good friends all our lives or something more she would leave up to us. Anyway, I nearly lost him with how shy I was.”

“You?” Martin asked, incredulous, “Shy?”

“Having a family makes you less shy,” Angelina replied, “Actually, having a cat familiar makes you less shy. They don’t take crap from anyone, cats.”

Both Lear and Calliope puffed out their chests, and Martin couldn’t help put laugh and stroke his familiar affectionately. “Douglas and I are different, though. He’s not magical at all… well, not traditionally. Sometimes I swear he’s communicating with some lucky gods, or he’s a Communicator in disguise but… he’s a bit of an unorthodox choice, concerning who Simon and Kaitlin found…”

Angel put a hand on his shoulder and replied, “Don’t worry about that. Remember? Granddad was nonmagical.”

Martin flushed deeper, “Mummy… I’m not planning on _marrying_ Douglas… I’m not even… not even sure he cares for me beyond friendship!”

Angelina’s hand moved to the back of her son’s head. She was about five inches shorter than Martin, so it was a bit of a reach. “Darling,” she said slowly, running her small fingers through his red hair, “You don’t know anything, yet you can still take a chance. Friendship is as good a start as any. You’re both single, and you both trust one another, and since he already knows about the Family Legacy, the vital step as already been jumped over!”

Martin laughed breathily as he took a sip of his tea, his hands wrapped around the mug. “Well… that is true but…”

“You’re going to be stubborn and chivalrous?” Angelina asked.

“What? I’m not… that…” Martin replied.

Angelina shook her head and leaned over the kitchen counter. She was short, but the counter was a good height for her because her mug stayed at mouth level when her elbows were resting on it. She was wearing a pretty red velvet dress that made her look more like faery than a human witch, especially with her long dark hair and grey eyes. “I remember you were the same with Jessica and that one chap…”

“Oh, Henry?” Martin asked, “He was straight! And Jessica turned out to be a lesbian…”

“Excuses, darling. Henry came out of the closet at university. You could have been the boy he came out with, not that drag performer.”

Martin grimaced, “That was the summer I left and one of the main reasons I _did_ leave. Don’t remind me.”

Angel turned her head to her son and crooked it a bit. Then she bumped her hip into his leg and grinned when he turned to look at her. “I’m trying to say that if you really like this chap, that you shouldn’t be afraid to go out on a limb. He’s a polite fellow, and sweet as your grandmum’s cinnamon rolls. He’d at least give you a chance if you were brave enough to ask him.”

“You really think so?” Martin asked.

“You don’t have to become brave overnight… but I know a crush when I see it,” Angelina replied, winking.

Martin nodded and finished his tea just as Kaitlin rushed into the room followed by her fiancée.

*****

After breakfast goodbyes were made, and the siblings slowly filtered out to their own lives. Simon was an electrician to his ‘Normie’ customers, and in his spare time he liked to play with electromagnets and write papers about physics and things like that. His wife was a meteorologist at a major weather reporter’s for the BBC. Both lived in London.

Kaitlin and Annie lived just outside of Bristol, and owned some of the major greenhouses. Kaitlin grew food for the some of the more minor grocers, and Annie was a chemist in town.

Douglas was glad he had stayed over, since Martin would have inconvenienced everyone, and Angelina had no car (her daughter brought her food every week from her garden, and Annie made sure to get meat and dairy products to her once a week).

Douglas took his Captain home to Fitton and walked him up to his building.

“Thanks for, um, coming with us, Douglas,” Martin said, looking at his shoes. “I’m sorry you got roped into all that. You were looking forward to a weekend off, I know…”

“Nonsense. It was fun,” Douglas replied.

There was a brief moment as the two waited for the other to leave, but when neither did, Douglas lifted Martin’s face to look at him and asked, “Is something the matter, Martin?”

Martin tried to flinch away from Douglas’s touch, but he realized he rather liked it, and kept still instead. “Nothing… nothing’s wrong. Everything… everything is absolutely fine.”

Martin’s face was flushed, and his pupils had gone from tiny dots to dilated so that the grey in his irises were nearly blocked by the black. Douglas knew very little about neuroscience, but he remembered almost everything from his medical studies, however brief they might have been.

“Are you getting sick again?” Douglas asked.

“No, no, no, no,” Martin replied in his typical stuttering fashion. “Um. No.”

Douglas blinked, taking his hand away from his Captain’s chin, “ _Martin_. Though it might not be physiological, I know when you say something more than four times there is something wrong.”

“Okay, there’s something wrong,” Martin said, backing up and fishing for the doorknob, as his back was to the door.

It slowly dawned on Douglas that the flushing and the dilated pupils could be circumstantial to the proximity between the two of them and smiled, leaning close to see what would happen. He felt Martin’s ragged breathing on his lips and couldn’t help it:

He closed the gap between their lips chastely. For a moment, Martin forgot how to breathe.

And when he finally did, he found the doorknob, twisted it open violently, and fled.

Douglas was left on the stoop of the building staring at a wet white door. The self-proclaimed Sky-God was about to take out his phone and apologize to Martin when he felt something rub against his leg and he saw Calliope, looking up at him with big bright eyes.

“Can you tell him I’m sorry. I just thought… well it doesn’t matter. I thought… there might be something between us…”

Calliope hopped up on to the railing by the door and crooked her head at him. Then she shook her head. Douglas absentmindedly stroked her fur, and she let him. He suddenly remembered something Martin told him. That a familiar is an extension of the witch’s self, that whatever a familiar does translates to certain feelings felt by the witch, and certain things a witch does can translate into the feelings felt by the familiar.

“There was something there,” Douglas said to the cat, who only smiled, shrugging one shoulder before she leapt up the paneling to get to her witch’s window to be let in.

_There was something there…_

**Author's Note:**

> To Be Continued...


End file.
